Teachers at a statewide cyber charter school have voted to join the Pennsylvania State Education Association, making it the first Internet-based charter school to unionize in Pennsylvania.

One of 127 charter schools listed by the state, the PA Learners Online Regional Cyber Charter School -- known as PALO -- has about 600 students, most from Western Pennsylvania.

It is now the fourth charter school in the state with an active teachers union.

PALO is a public school open to any resident of Pennsylvania in kindergarten through 12th grade that's managed by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit and run by a separate board.

The school has 74 teachers and other professionals, according to the AIU.

"We are proud to welcome the members of the PA Learners Online Association to PSEA's family of over 1,000 local affiliates," PSEA President James Testerman said in a statement yesterday. "It is clear these public school employees desire the same voice in their working conditions as other school employees across the commonwealth."

Cheryl Fogarty, president of the PALO board and director of the educational services and support division for the AIU, said, "We'll be sitting down and looking at how we can pull together a contract that is agreeable to everybody."

PSEA spokesman Wythe Keever said that contract negotiations typically formally begin in January when a new local is formed.

Kimberly Frum, a PSEA organizing specialist who helped to organize PALO teachers, said, "We received a call from some of the teachers there, and we began having group meetings with them. Essentially, they organized themselves."

She said their main concern was job security. "They were at-will employees and were looking for some security and representation," she said.

Mr. Keever said, "The teachers we've spoken with said equity in salary was a concern, but I think job security from their descriptions was the top issue."

The other three charter schools with teachers unions are affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers - Pennsylvania and are in Philadelphia: Germantown Settlement, West Oak Lane and Wakisha charter schools.

The PSEA had organized Village Charter School in Delaware County, but it was absorbed into the Chester-Upland School District, according to the PSEA.